Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Job Description

What Do Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Do?

Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes find work for and manage the business affairs of their clients. In addition, they act in their best interests by supporting and promoting their goals. In many cases, they work in specialized agencies where the focus varies from the expected actor to the unexpected, such as the cruise line and broadcast journalism industries. To be successful, you must work very hard, demonstrate drive, show creativity and thoroughly understand the entertainment and sports industries.There is expected to be a 24 percent annual growth for this position nationwide. This means 580 openings yearly. Analysis suggests this growth rate should hold through 2018.

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Skills and Abilities

You have to be a people person because the job involves dealing with your clients and all those individuals who might hire them. In the case of your clients, you need to be able to find out what they need, work on their behalf, then evaluate the results. Beyond the clients, you must understand and be effective in promotion and know marketing strategy and sales methods, all in a very competitive arena. You will need administrative and management capabilities along with first-rate communication skills.

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Duties

Agents must be able to work with a wide array of talented people, so communication in its broadest sense should be a weapon in your arsenal. That means understanding media production and today’s many-faceted methods of information dissemination and evolving entertainment platforms. You have to be a business manager, too. That means plan strategically, allocate resources, keep accounts, handle production and coordinate staff. Some of the additional tasks associated with this job include:

Handling finances, including collecting fees and commissions

Negotiating with principals concerning contractual details

Developing strategic plans to advance individual clients’ careers

Staging auditions and personal interviews to evaluate talent

Scheduling performance engagements

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Tools and Technologies

Because many of your activities involve personal communication and office tasks, you must be familiar with the operation of related devices, for example, desktop and personal computers, video cameras, scanners and fax machines. Similarly, apt technologies are office-centered software for accounting, communication, querying and imaging.

Education and Training for Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes

While roughly half of active agents hold a Bachelor’s degree, others’ education levels suggest informal entry into the field, with 12.5 percent being high school graduates and 21.7 percent having attended college without graduating. If this field interests you, try to accumulate up to five year’s related work experience; for example, become an intern at a talent agency or take courses in sports management.

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Salary

People in this field can do well financially. High-end agents earn more than $187,200 yearly; the less successful just short of $30,000. The median annual salary: $84,530. As might be expected when dealing with the entertainment industry, a few agents can become quite wealthy.

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes Jobs by Geography

Massachusetts, Nevada, California, New York, New Jersey and Tennessee stand out as having the greatest concentration of talent agents and the highest wages. This is the result of the clustering in their major cities of not only talent, but of commercial radio and television broadcasting, movie making and many other artistic and athletic endeavors. If you intend to pursue a career as a talent agent, you would do well to focus your attention on these major centers. On the other hand, many successful agents have made starts in less glamorous locations then later moved up to the big time.